Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, East Los Angeles based Jan-Al Cases is a one-stop reusable packaging source for cases, custom welded parts and crates.
Long popular in the music industry with everyone from superstar artists touring the globe to working musicians getting to their next club gig, the company has received countless accolades over the years for its stellar customer service and the manufacturing of durable, protective and long lasting ATA touring cases for wardrobe, backline, racks, production, video screens, lighting and rigging, pro audio and tour supplies.
Jan-Al’s mission, simply stated, is up front on their home page: “Equipment is our business. Customers are our reason for being. We can meet your packaging needs.”
Jan-Al founders, Jan and Muffie Alejandro, met in Northern California where they ran a high-profile rehearsal studio. Jan, a veteran backline tech for everyone from Jackson Browne to David Bowie and Iggy Pop, had worked in the instrument rental business and Muffie had worked for a prominent music manager.
They moved to the Silverlake area of L.A. where, Jan says, “Our factory was our garage and our office was our son’s nursery. The landlord made us stop running our machines, but came back two hours later with a change of heart, because he says that Silverlake is where Disney started out. He was happy to hear we were looking for an industrial space.”
Jan-Al took off when the Alejandros moved their operation to the nearby City of Commerce. They had a built-in clientele from Jan’s connections as a roadie, as well as satisfied customers from their previous years of selling and designing cases. Their manufacturing is now based in a 10,000 square foot facility in East L.A.
Muffie says, “We marketed our case company as the one that provided great quality and customer service. We addressed a lot of existing problems by creating custom built cases that were ergonomic and built to fit the work style of the user, not simply building a case that fit the equipment but that also made efficient use of space in a van or truck. As the industry evolved, people became more concerned with truck packs and safety and ergonomics were at a premium. Jan-Al was part of all that.”
Citing a catastrophic example of a loaded truck on a Michael Jackson tour that tipped over due to poor weight distribution, she adds, “As a case manufacturer, we pay attention to how we design cases so that when they load, the truck pack is secure. We dimension the cases so that they fit nicely with each other and the load is not shifting all over the place. When we deal with younger artists looking for custom cases, we have to ask them the appropriate questions. It’s not just about whether the case will fit through the door of the club, but whether it will fit properly in the trailer someday when they’re on the Vans Warped Tour.”
The company’s website show the range of custom cases Jan-Al build for their musical and industrial clients in many fields: Aerospace, A/V Cinema, Baseball, Briefcases, Toolkits & Portfolios, Catering, Chain Motors, Console Cases (they have designs on file for virtually every console from every manufacturer), Convention Cases, Entertainment & Video Cases, iMac Case, Isolation Cases, Jan-Al Pro Audio, Kiosk Cases, Monitor Case, Music Cases, Plasma Cases, etc. There are even links to cases they have designed for the L.A. Dodgers and L.A. Kings.
In addition, Jan-Al is the only case company called upon by the Airline Transport Association (ATA) to serve in an advisory capacity.
Another key list on the site shows the range of superstar recording and touring artists who have benefited from Jan-Al’s custom cases including the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Prince, NY Philharmonic and Paul McCartney.
Jan-Al will soon launch two updated sites, http://JanAlcase.com and http://rackmountcity.com, touted as the most complete online rack accessory supplier in the industry.
Contact Jan-Al Cases, 800-735-2625, [email protected]
